Cigarettes have so far been popular as one of articles of taste. Recently, smokeless tobacco has been attracting attention because it can be used in a nonsmoking area such as in the cabin of an aircraft or in the passenger cars of a train.
Snus (SNUS), which is a kind of smokeless tobacco, includes shreds obtained by finely cutting a tobacco material, and a substantial amount of water is contained in the tobacco shreds. The user puts the tobacco shreds directly into his/her mouth to enjoy the flavor of tobacco and also to take in the tobacco components of the tobacco shreds via saliva. Specifically, snus can be classified into a loose type in which the tobacco shreds are not wrapped, and a portion type, or what is called a pouch type, in which the tobacco shreds are wrapped in a wrapper made of nonwoven fabric or the like. In the case of the pouch type snus, the user puts the snus in between the upper lip and the gum so that the tobacco components dissolving into the saliva may be taken into the body through the gum.
The tobacco shreds of snus contain a substantial amount of water as stated above, and therefore, while the pouch type snus is kept in storage, water containing the tobacco components is likely to ooze out. The ooze discolors the nonwoven fabric wrapper, not only making the snus itself look dirty but staining the things around the snus.
There have also been known oral tobacco products of pillow packaging type or blister packaging type in which a single dose of snus or a predetermined number of doses of snus are individually packaged (Patent Documents 1, 2 and 3). These tobacco products are configured such that the snus can be seen from outside.